The Rockets again are signaling that they're serious about signing Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James.

Houston is prepared to trade center Omer Asik to New Orleans for a 2015 first-round draft pick. The Rockets will also include $1.5 million in the deal, news of which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

New Orleans will send a future first-round pick to Houston for Asik, league source tells Yahoo Sports. Deal will give Rockets cap space.

Asik, a 7-0 defensive asset, was set to eat up a larger chunk of cap space next season as his contract jumped from $5.2 million to $14.9 million. Last season he averaged 5.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Two years ago, as Houston's starting center before Dwight Howard, Asik averaged 10.1 points and 11.7 rebounds.

The move should give the Rockets more room to offer a bigger contract to Anthony or James, who both will be free agents this summer. Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin could be on the move next, leaving James or Anthony to pair with Dwight Howard and James Harden.

The Pelicans, meanwhile, gets star big man Anthony Davis some help and insurance as he takes on a bigger role.